Topics
Latest
AI
Amazon
Image Credits:Dashtoon(opens in a new window)
Apps
Biotech & Health
Climate
Image Credits:Dashtoon(opens in a new window)
Cloud Computing
Commerce
Crypto
Dashtoon founders Lalith Gudipati, Sanidhya Narain and Soumyadeep Mukherjee
Enterprise
EVs
Fintech
Fundraising
gadget
back
Government & Policy
ironware
Layoffs
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
Privacy
Robotics
security system
Social
place
Startups
TikTok
shipping
speculation
More from TechCrunch
Events
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
newssheet
Podcasts
telecasting
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
Contact Us
Dashtoonwants to make anyone with a story to tell into a risible - creative person , even if they ca n’t reap . It provide aspiring comic Almighty with a suite of generative AI tools , and a publication platform that releases fresh episodes day by day for impatient readers .
To seed the political program , call Dashtoon Comic Reader , Dashtoon commission about 30 comics and will start impart almost 1,000 new episodes every month . It bug out monetize in October and expect to make $ 15,000 in revenue during the first calendar month , with plans to grow to $ 100,000 per month over the next two to three months . The startup function on a freemium model that give user one free instalment a 24-hour interval for each comic .
The San Francisco and London - establish inauguration declare today it has lift $ 5 million in seed funding led by Matrix Partners India and Stellaris Venture Partners with participation from holy man investor .
Dashtoon was found in December 2022 by Sanidhya Narain , Lalith Gudipati and Soumyadeep Mukherjee . Before Dashtoon , Narain and Gudipati were on the founding team of Pocket FM , where they work on raise the India - based audio content platform in the United States . Mukherjee come from a deep - technical school background , include Morphle Labs , which builds Cancer the Crab diagnosing robotics .
Narain tells TechCrunch that the idea behind Dashtoon was planted while he and Gudipati were work at Pocket FM . They did a marketing experiment , using comic strip show to promote Pocket FM ’s serialized audio frequency content on platforms like Facebook , and were surprised at how well the campaigns did .
“ We roll in the hay then that there was latent demand from U.S. consumers to scan digital comics , so I decide to drop some prison term in Korea to understand how the ecosystem puzzle out , ” say Narain . “ I realise that laughable creation needs very high skills and originate a creator ecosystem in a new geography would take a lot of time and take a huge investiture . ”
That changed when DALL - tocopherol 2 was released , pushing school text - to - image AI model forrad . Midjourney and Stability . AI also changed the world of AI - father art . Narain and Gudipati resolve that it was a near time to start working on a platform that could produce production - calibre comedian with AI . Mukherjee joined as CTO to make Dashtoon ’s AI Creation Suite , which the companionship says enables anyone to turn their story ideas into digital cartoon strip . Then they can distribute and monetize them through Dashtoon Comic Reader .
Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Dashtoon is place at be author community of interests who desire to reverse their stories into comics , but do n’t have skill like chalk out or lettering . To use Dashtoon Studio , a creator first uploads their storyboard . Then they pick character for each panel from Dashtoon ’s character reference library or upload photos and drafting to generate images . The startup ’s founders say this deoxidise the time it takes to create an installment from 40 to 50 hours to just 5 to 6 hours . This entail episode can be published day by day , increasing Dashtoon ’s chances of produce a striking . In the future , Dashtoon plans to add features enable creators to generate storyboards and dialog with AI , too , shrink the time it convey to create an sequence to under an hour .
While Dashtoon Studio uses AI to generate storyboards and dialogues , that does n’t intend there is no creativity involved , says Narain . “ Imagine productive AI as an factor that can do Labour - intensive undertaking for you or submit you with various selection , but the genuine creative work will have to be done by human . ” contented creators still spell account and conceptualise characters , before training them on Dashtoon Studio so they can be used in different poses and expressions .
While generative AI is being integrated into more creative tools , likeGoogle ’s Product StudioandCanva , many people , specially artist , remain questioning about AI art . Narain says the set up team ’s biggest fear was that readers would not love AI - generated content , but the response has been good so far .
“ Most of the AI products are basic wrapper , and the substance they produce is very mechanical in nature which mean the creator has very limited ascendency over the last output , ” he says , adding that Dashtoon avoids that by giving creators complete control over their last product . He says that many comic fans realize that humans can not release a new installment every day , but there is a shift in consumer conduct where they do want daily releases ( like binge - watching Netflix ) and are all right with AI - generated content as long as it is enjoyable .
Another criticism of AI - get content is that a mess of it is based off steal work from other artists . For example , Stability AI , Midjourney and DeviantArtwere action by artists who said the company misused their copyright art . Narain enjoin Dashtoon prevents right of first publication infringement with several measure . One is seeding its character library internally with its own IP , including digital art , hand drawn characters and picture . Stories also have to be the IP of its Almighty or Dashtoon , and the company may eventually train its own foundation models , partner with data providers who do n’t break copyright law .
There are other digital comic distribution platform , including Marvel Unlimited and Webtoon . Narain says Dashtoon differentiates with its contentedness depository library and installment release rate . It also want to stand up aside by building a native creator community .
“ The last decade in the content industry was specify by the disruption of content dispersion , ” says Narain . “ And the next decade will be set by the flutter of content creation . ” He adds that Dashtoon present an choice to traditional , British Labour Party - intensive methods of comics cosmos and statistical distribution , which involved writers either learning how to do art themselves or hire a third party and then sell on Amazon and other market place .
Dashtoon will first focus on farsighted - sort content in writing style like romance , drama and phantasy . Then as more Divine onboard , it project to expand into other genres within fiction , non - fiction and light - form illustrated content . In term of Divine , Dashtoon design to first concentre on figure out with published writer to exchange their stories into digital comics and graphic novels for publication on Dashtoon Comic Reader , before building a residential district of Maker that publish first on the political program .
In a financial statement about the investment funds , Stellaris Venture Partners corpus Naman Lahoty said that content consumption on mobile phones has grown from an norm of 45 min per day in 2011 to 4 minute per 24-hour interval in 2021 , thanks to raw content formats like unretentive - soma videos , audio OTT , podcasts and casual game . “ look onward , we anticipate that webcomics will emerge as the next wave of ontogeny , ” he added . “ As pioneers in this world , Dashtoon is poised to lead the charge with the father possessing a staring mix of content , tech and planetary substance abuser accomplishment experience and skills required to construct this job . ”
How roboticists are thinking about reproductive AI
